1990 Astro Quickfire 18FDX

[Jrsmith_80]

Here are a few pics of my old boat.  Its in pretty rough condition as of now, I plan to post progress pics right here in this thread as the wok begins.  I purchased it a couple years ago and have not done a thing to it since.  Its a project that I am going to start working on this fall/winter.  Im going to have the seats redone and then I am going to put down some new carpet and a recessed trolling motor foot control tray.  I purchased to supplies to start working on the oxidation this morning.  The motor is a Mercury Blackmax 150 that has never let me down and runs great.  I love this boat, its pretty heavy but handles the rough waters of Kansas pretty well.
   

[ranger361v]

Yep a little clean up and that boat will be sharp..

[Curt]

@Jrsmith_80 Can't wait to see the progress pics!

For seating, I have heard nothing but good reports from people who bought their seats from www.bassboatseats.com 

[Jrsmith_80]

Well I jumped in and started wet sanding the boat today.  I got his a boat a couple of years ago and I am certain that it hasn't been waxed in years.  It is amazing what a little "elbow grease" will do! I am pretty sure it will never shine like new again but this will probably as close as it will ever get.

I started out with 1000 grit sand paper but quickly jumped to 800 grit for the first pass over the bottom half of the boat.  I must say it looks 1000 times better after sanding then it did yesterday when I washed it, in preparation for the shading.  I have not applied any wax, polish etc... to the boat as of yet, this is all just wet sanding.  I am also just doing the bottom half of the boat for now as it looks a lot worse then the top half.  Here are some before and after pics of the sanding.  I have two more sanding sessions yet to go with 1500 and 2000 grit sand paper.  Hopefully I will get to put a couple coats of paint moisturizer on it tomorrow.  IF all goes as planned I will have some shiny updated pics for you guys tomorrow!!

Before:


After:

Before:


After:



Before:

After:

[Curt]

Cool to see some progress being made.

Based on what I've see @Matt@Fractures and some others do, you should be able to get it back pretty close to a new shine, with the right combination of sandpaper grit, hand sanding, buffing and then waxing 

[Jrsmith_80]

I finished the sanding yesterday and applied a couple coats of some Pro-Tec Nu Paint Moisturizer and also one coat of Pro-Tec Sealer/Polisher.  I am extremely happy with the results so far.  Its not like it was in 1990 on the showroom floor but Im guessing it hasn't shined like this a few years.

This is the product I used, I applied it by hand and also with a orbital buffer.



Heres what it looks like after one coat of the Sealer/Polish

[Curt]

  Looking much better!

[Jrsmith_80]

Well, I finished the bottom half of the boat yesterday and what a difference a little "elbow grease" can make.  Here some pics of the finished product!! 

Before I started:


Finished Product:


Before:


Finished:



Im hoping to start on the top half next week, but the fishing is likely to pick up anytime now and Id rather be fishing then working on the boat!!

[Curt]

What a difference!